The Lafayette Planning Commission meets at 6:00 pm on Wednesday August 23 at the City Offices, 1290 South Public Red., to consider annexing the land at 287 and Arapahoe for the Lafayette Marketplace project.  PLEASE BE THERE and use your 3 minutes to express your views.  Below is an email I sent to City Staff today:

“Just FYI, below is a copy of my remarks before a Council meeting on February 21, 2023,  10 days after Barbara and I launched our Petition.  At that point I informed Council and Staff that in just 10 days we had garnered 835 signatures including 455 Lafayette residents - calculating that breakdown of signatures required me to hand count each signature, an extremely time consuming process, but I wanted to provide the City with the most accurate information possible.  The remaining signatures are of residents of nearby communities like Erie, many of whom have to travel through the horribly clogged intersection at 287 and Arapahoe, with a handful of signatures from elsewhere.

We did everything humanly possible to blanket City officials with copies of the Petition.  Before that Council meeting I emailed the Petition to every Member of Council.  At the meeting I handed the Clerk hard copies of the Petition for distribution to Council Members.  Also at the meeting I handed copies to Fritz Sprague and to another Staff member who I believe was Jeff Brasel (it could have been Jana Easley).   And, before the February 21Council meeting I emailed Jeff and Jana the updated Petition signature numbers.  I received a thank you email from Jana on which Jeff was copied.  

Barbara and I requested and were granted meetings with Mayor Mangat, Mayor Pro Temp Wong and Councilor Briggs.  We also requested and were granted a meeting with the City Attorney to discuss the legal annexation process.  And, after a recent Kensington Development community meeting, Barbara spoke briefly with Jeff Brasel on the subject of urging him to seek alternatives to simply raising residential water rates in dealing with the City’s water infrastructure deficit. 

On March 8, 2023 I sent this email to City Administrator Sprague requesting to meet with him:

“ Hi Administrator Sprague.  My wife Barbara and I would like to meet with you to discuss the issue of annexation of the 36 acres at the Southwest corner of Arapahoe and 287. As you know, hundreds of your constituents have signed a Petition opposing annexation of that property at this time. My wife and I met yesterday with City Attorney Mary Lynn Macsalka who confirmed that this is a legislative matter about which we are free to meet with you. Is there a time and place where it would be convenient for you to meet with us? Thank you so much.”

On March 10 Administrator Sprague sent me an email refusing to meet.

At no time did anyone from City Staff express ANY interest in our Citizen Petition.  At no time did anyone from City Staff reach out and ask to meet with us regarding the Petition.   As a sign of Staff disinterest in the views of citizens, on Wednesday of this week (after my Tuesday eveningremarks and almost 6 months after providing the Petition to Staff) I received a request from Jeff Brasel asking for a copy of the Petition.  Despite our diligent effort to blanket City officials with copies of the Petition, he stated, “ it appears we don’t have a copy of the petition. You have mentioned it in numerous emails and public input forms, but I can’t find an actual copy of the petition being provided.”

I am sure that if our Petition was a document provided by the Developer - the City Staff’s “customers” - Staff would have kept a copy instead of tossing it in the trash which is what appears to have happened to our Petition.  My February 21 testimony is below.  

“Remarks of Preston Padden Before the Lafayette, CO City Council

February, 21, 2023

My name is Preston Padden and I live at 2389 Indian Peaks Trail.  My wife and I try to contribute to our community.  She is on the Board of the Indian Peaks Master HOA and has been active in removing water-needy plantings throughout the community, replacing them with River Rock, turning off the irrigation that previously served those plants and installing master valves to further reduce water usage.  I serve on the Board of the IP2 Sub-HOA.

I am here on behalf of 835 local residents asking Council to not annex the 36 agricultural acres in Unincorporated Boulder County at the Southwest Corner of Arapahoe and Highway 287 for the purpose of the proposed Lafayette Marketplace development.  10 days ago, my wife and I created an online Petition against this project hoping that maybe 100 people would sign.  It seems we hit a community nerve.  As of today, 835 local area residents have signed the Petition - 454 Lafayette Residents and 381 residents of surrounding communities like Erie and Louisville.

There are many reasons to not annex this property for a dense mixed-use project like Lafayette Marketplace.  The out-of-town developer is proposing 5 story buildings, 677 apartments and 84,000 square feet of commercial space.  The project is grossly out of scale and character with the surrounding Lafayette community.  Arapahoe Road already is a parking lot.  And, it has yet to try to absorb the impact of the nearly 1,000 new homes to be built in Silo and 40 North.  The last thing Arapahoe needs is all the cars from 677 new apartments and the proposed commercial businesses.  

Nearby elementary schools are at capacity with one of them adding portable classrooms.  And, of course, we have no water.  For the second year in a row, Lafayette, like many other Front Range towns, has advised residents to reduce water consumption.  The Colorado Gazette reports today that 88% of Colorado residents want local governments to be sure there is enough water for current residents before approving new developments.  While the Lafayette Marketplace developer claims to have a source of water, whatever that source is, it would be far better to use it to help serve current residents and businesses.

Because this land is not in Lafayette, the developer has absolutely no legal right to avail itself of Lafayette’s zoning and development approval process.  It’s only right is to seek annexation.  And your decision on annexation is “legislative” in character, not “quasi-judicial”.  That means that you have unfettered discretion to deny annexation.  And 835 local residents are asking you to deny annexation before even looking at a development sketch plan.

You might be thinking, if we don’t annex this land now, what will happen?  Will Erie grab it to build high rises?  But, because of the Inter Government Agreement expertly negotiated by City Administrator Sprague, Erie cannot touch this land for another 6 years.  That gives the City and the community time to work together on a far better use of these 36 acres.  Maybe the owner can be persuaded to take advantage of a huge tax deduction for making this parcel subject to a conservation easement.  Or, maybe over the next 6 years the City will find the money to buy this land for open space.

The important fact is that we have time and options.  Neither the City nor its residents need to view Lafayette Marketplace as the only option for that space.  Again, 454 of your constituents, Lafayette residents - along with 381 residents of neighboring communities - have lent their names, address and email address to a polite and respectful request that you not annex this land for Lafayette Marketplace.  We hope that the Council and City Staff will give careful consideration to the request of these hundreds of residents.

Thanks very much for your dedication to our wonderful City.